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The Senator calls on Obama to force Congress back to Washington. (Published Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2011)

Updated at 5:04 PM CDT on Wednesday, Aug 10, 2011

Illinois Senator Mark Kirk is worried about the volatility in the stock markets, and wants the the president to do something about it.

For the second time in as many weeks the moderate Republican junior senator said that President Obama should call Congress back to work on the debt issue.

"The president should recall the congress," Kirk said. "We see tremendous anxiety with the potential of the U.S. to go into recession and one of the greatest way to restore confidence is, not to have a speech and not to lay out a set of vague principles, but to see the elected representatives of the American people working on entitlement reforms right away."

The White House said Wednesday that the president would instead be taking a family vacation to Martha's Vineyard.Meanwhile the Dow Jones Industrial average -- an index of 500 blue chip stocks -- closed down more than 500 points today.

While fixing the immediate financial crisis is an immediate issue, Kirk said that entitlement reform is the toughest and most pressing issue facing the country. He commended his Illinois counterpart, Dick Durbin, for tackling the issue with other members of the Gang of Six.